TAMPA, Fla. – A Seminole nurse is heading to federal prison after she admitted to stealing powerful painkillers from a Tampa Bay area hospital and replacing the medication with saline.
U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced 37-year-old Lauren Hornbuckle to two years behind bars for tampering with a consumer product. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentencing on Thursday, wrapping up a case that began with Hornbuckle’s guilty plea in August 2025.
According to court documents, Hornbuckle was working as a licensed registered nurse at a local facility identified in records as Hospital #1. Between November 2023 and March 2024, she tampered with several injectable controlled substances, specifically targeting morphine, hydromorphone, and fentanyl.
Investigators found that Hornbuckle drained the actual medications from their containers and replaced the missing liquid with saline. She then placed the altered vials back into the hospital’s general circulation to be used on patients, taking the stolen narcotics for her own personal use…